Chandigarh: Sitting quietly in his modest Panchkula residence, 67-year-old Jaidev, a retired professor in Haryana’s higher education department, often wonders which authority’s order the Haryana govt is still waiting for before releasing the ex-gratia meant for families of martyrs.His son, Flight Lieutenant Varun Kumar, died at just 24 in a military aircraft crash at Mechuka near the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh on June 9, 2009. Union govt has since declared him a “battle casualty”, Punjab and Haryana high court ruled in Jaidev’s favour, and even the state’s appeal against the order has been dismissed, still state govt has not released the pilot’s family their due.Flt Lt Varun was on an operational sortie when he sacrificed his life. An ex-NDA, Varun was posted at Air Force Station, Jorhat, Assam.After losing his son, Jaidev was paralysed and became bed-ridden for a long time from shock and trauma. He was not even aware of any documentation regarding the ex-gratia and battle casualty status. It was only after recovering from his medical condition and shifting from native Jind to Panchkula that he pursued the issues related to his entitlements.In 2022, after litigation before Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) Chandigarh, the ministry of defence (MoD) issued a ‘Battle Casualty’ certificate acknowledging his son’s supreme sacrifice, which was ‘erroneously’ denied.While central govt was already paying him a liberalized pension (given to next of kin of soldiers who lay down their lives for the country), Haryana govt neither granted the ex-gratia to the petitioner nor declined it.Aggrieved by this, he approached Punjab and Haryana high court, which on Feb 28, 2025, directed Haryana govt to forthwith consider Prof Jaidev’s case as per applicable policy and grant relief of ex-gratia and reward money within two months.Instead of complying with the order, Haryana govt challenged it before a division bench arguing that the state’s ex-gratia grant is admissible only if death occurs during battle inoculation training exercises or demonstration with live ammunition whereas, Flt Lt Varun died in an ‘air crash’.However, the division bench of HC, in its Aug 22, 2025 order, dismissed the state’s appeal observing that once the Union of India has declared the death a “battle casualty,” Haryana cannot turn its back on the sacrifice.Over six months have passed, but Haryana govt is yet to act. The anguished father doesn’t know who to turn to.“IAF and central govt have already declared my son a battle causality. High court has passed an order in my favour; the state’s appeal has also been dismissed. But the authorities in Haryana govt have not bothered to comply with their moral duty as well as court directions. It sometimes really feels humiliating to approach courts and to run for the dues despite the case being fully covered within state’s policy,” Jaidev said, choking with emotion.After a pause, he said, “I wonder which authority’s order Haryana govt still awaits.”Prof Jaidev has now written to chief minister Nayab Singh Saini seeking his intervention to at least comply with the court orders and release the benefits.
